1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manual input device which enables central control with a single knob of various electric apparatuses which are, for example, mounted in a car, and particularly to means for selecting the direction of manipulation of the above-mentioned knob.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern cars are equipped with various electric apparatuses such as an air conditioner, radio, television, CD player and navigation system. If the driver tries to operate many such electric apparatuses individually using the respective control means provided on these apparatuses during a drive, he/she may be unable to drive the car smoothly. In order to allow the driver to turn on or off any desired electric apparatus, select a function or perform any other operation without any inconvenience for his/her safe drive, a manual input device which enables the driver to control various electric apparatuses by manipulation of a single knob has been proposed.
This kind of manual input device as prior art will be explained referring to FIGS. 13 to 16. FIG. 13 shows an example of a manual input device installed in a car; FIG. 14 is a side view illustrating a proposed conventional manual input device; FIG. 15 is a top view illustrating the knob of the manual input device as shown in FIG. 14; and FIG. 16 is a top view illustrating the guide plate built in the manual input device as shown in FIG. 14.
As illustrated in FIG. 13, this manual input device 100 is installed in a console box 200 located between the driver""s seat and the passenger""s seat. As shown in FIG. 14, this conventional manual input device 100 is mainly composed of the following: a knob 110 which has two clicking switches 111 and 112 as signal input means and three rotary variable resistors 113, 114 and 115 (see FIG. 15); an XY table 120 which is driven in two directions perpendicular to each other (a direction perpendicular to the side view in FIG. 14 and the right-left direction as you face the figure) by the knob 110; a stick controller 130 as a position sensor which inputs a signal to an external apparatus according to the direction and amount of movement of the XY table 120; and a guide plate 140 which engages with an engagement pin 160 projecting downward from the bottom face of the XY table 120 (see FIG. 16).
The knob 110 and XY table 120 are connected through a connecting shaft 150 and the XY table 120 and guide plate 140 are engaged with each other by the engagement pin 160 whose tip is movably inserted in a guide groove 141 of the guide plate 140. This guide groove 141 may have any shape which allows the tip of the engagement pin 160 to be moved in specific directions. For instance, as shown in FIG. 16, when a guide groove 141 in the plane shape of a cross is engraved on the upper surface of the guide plate 140, the tip of the engagement pin 160 can be moved from the center A to end points B, C, D and E as shown, in the two directions which intersect almost perpendicularly. In other words, by manipulating the knob 110, the engagement pin 160 can be moved along the guide groove 141 of the guide plate 140 through the XY table 120 so that, with the tip of the engagement pin 160 at end point A, B, C, D or E in the guide groove 141, the information on that engagement position (positional signal) is outputted from the stick controller 130. This means that it is possible to select a car-mounted electric apparatus function to be operated (a function to be controlled). Once the desired electric apparatus function is selected in this way, the selected function can be adjusted or switched on or off by manipulating the two clicking switches 111 and 112 on the knob 110 and the three rotary variable resistors 113, 114 and 115 as appropriate.
As shown in FIG. 13, the manual input device 100 thus structured allows central control of a plurality of car-mounted electric apparatuses by the use of a combination of a switch device 170 and a display unit 180 and a computer as a controller (not shown in the figure). Here, the switch device 170 enables the user to select a desired electric apparatus among the ones mounted in the car; the display unit 180 indicates various information including the name of the electric apparatus selected through the switch device 170 and information on the operation done by means of the manual input device 100; and the computer controls these. The switch device 170 is installed in the console box 200 and its control switches 171a to 171e are located in the vicinity of the manual input device 100 and connected with different electric apparatuses. If the control switches 171a to 171e are respectively connected to a car-mounted air conditioner, radio, television, CD player and navigation system, the user can turn on or off the air conditioner or specify the air conditioner mode to the manual input device 100 using the control switch 171a, or turn on or off the radio or specify the radio mode to the manual input device 100 using the control switch 171b; likewise, by operating the other control switches 171c to 171e, the user can turn on or off the corresponding electric apparatuses or specify their modes to the manual input device 100. The display unit 180 (for example, a liquid crystal display) is conveniently located for the driver""s viewing and the computer is built in the console box 200.
While it is possible to select a function of the electric apparatus selected through the switch device 170 or make a functional adjustment using the manual input device 100, the functions which can be selected or adjusted through the manual input device 100 vary depending on the type of electric apparatus selected. For example, if the air conditioner mode is selected using the switch device 170, the function of xe2x80x9cair flow rate controlxe2x80x9d is selected by manipulating the knob 110 to bring the engagement pin 160 to the end point B of the guide groove 141 of the guide plate 140 and pushing in the clicking switch 111 with a click; likewise the function of xe2x80x9cair blow-off position control,xe2x80x9d the function of xe2x80x9cair blow-off direction controlxe2x80x9d and the function of xe2x80x9ctemperature controlxe2x80x9d are selected by manipulating the knob 110 to bring the pin 160 to the end points C, D, and E of the guide groove 141, respectively, to click the clicking switch 111.
Once one of these control functions has been selected, the selected function can be adjusted by manipulating the rotary variable resistors 113 to 115 as appropriate. For example, if the air conditioner mode is selected by means of the switch device 170 and the function of xe2x80x9cair flow rate controlxe2x80x9d is selected by means of the clicking switch 111, the air conditioner""s air flow rate can be controlled by manipulating the rotary variable resistor 113; likewise, if the function of xe2x80x9cair blow-off position controlxe2x80x9d is selected, the air conditioner""s air blow-off position can be controlled by manipulating the rotary variable resistors 114 and 115. Further, if the radio mode is selected by means of the switch device 170 and the function of xe2x80x9cvolume controlxe2x80x9d is selected by means of the clicking switch 111, the radio""s volume can be controlled by manipulating the rotary variable resistor 113; likewise if the xe2x80x9ctuningxe2x80x9d function is selected in the radio mode, tuning of the radio can be done by manipulating the rotary variable resistors 114 and 115.
However, in the conventional manual input device 100, because the knob 110 is held connected with the guide plate 140 through the XY table 120, and the knob 110 can be manipulated only in specific directions which are determined by the engagement of the tip of the engagement pin 160 with the guide groove 141 of the guide plate 140, the knob 110 can be used only for selecting a function of the electric apparatus selected by the switch device 170 and it is difficult to use the knob 110 for various purposes. For example, it cannot be to used to select both an electric apparatus and a function of the selected apparatus, or to select an electric apparatus function and control the selected function, or to select an electric apparatus, select a function of the selected apparatus and control the selected apparatus function. Therefore, it is not easy to make the knob 110 more versatile and improve the operability of the manual input device 100.
Let""s assume as follows: eight electric apparatuses (air conditioner, radio, DVD player, CD player, telephone, speech input system, car navigation system and 2nd) are selectable; four radio functions (AM, FM and shortwave station selection and volume) are adjustable; and the radio volume can be controlled in two ways, namely by either increasing or decreasing the volume. In this case, if the knob 110 of the manual input device 100 is used to select the radio and the volume control function and perform a volume control in sequence, the knob 110 should be movable in eight directions for selection of the radio, in four directions for selection of the radio volume control function, and in two directions for volume control.
However, in the conventional manual input device 100, as stated above, the knob 110 can be moved only in specific directions which are determined by the engagement of the tip of the engagement pin 160 with the guide groove 141 of the guide plate 140, so the number of directions in which the knob 110 can be moved cannot be varied depending on the type of function to be selected or controlled with the knob 110. Accordingly, there would be dead zones in which no functional selection or control is not performed even by manipulating the knob 110. Specifically, in order to allow selection of the radio from among the eight electric apparatuses by manipulation of the knob 110, there should be guide grooves 141 extending radially in eight directions from the center in the guide plate 140, but if such grooves are provided, in selecting the radio volume control function, four directions (grooves) except those for AM, FM and shortwave station selection and volume control would be dead zones; and in carrying out a radio volume control, six directions (grooves) except those for volume increase and decrease would be dead zones.
Furthermore, if the car navigation system is selected by manipulation of the knob 110, a means for moving the cursor which appears along with a map image on the display unit 180 would be necessary. However, as mentioned above, the knob 110 of the conventional manual input device 100 cannot be moved in a desired direction freely because it is held engaged with the guide plate 140; as a consequence, it cannot be used as a means for moving the cursor in the car navigation system. Therefore, in order to enable the car navigation system to be controlled with the manual input device 100, a cursor moving means other than the knob 110 would be needed. This implies that the manual input device 100 would have a complicated structure and be not easy to operate.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and provides a user-friendly manual input device with a simple structure.
According to one aspect of the present invention, as a solution to the above problem, a manual input device comprises: a knob which is movable in a desired direction and is moved in a specific direction from a center position to select a specific function among functions of a plurality of electric apparatuses and control the selected function; a plurality of guide plates which limit directions in which the knob can be moved; actuators which change engagement of the knob with the plural guide plates; and a controller for the actuators, wherein the controller controls operation of the actuators depending on the electric apparatus function selected by manipulation of the knob and selectively limits the directions in which the knob can be moved.
Accordingly, when the manual input device comprises a knob which can be moved in a desired direction, a plurality of guide plates which limit the directions in which the knob can be moved, actuators which change the engagement of the knob with a plurality of guide plates and a controller and the controller controls operation to change the engagement of the knob with the guide plates as appropriate, by disengaging the knob from the guide plates it can be moved in a desired direction, and by engaging it with at least one guide plate, the directions in which it can be moved are limited to the ones determined by a single guide plate or a combination of guide plates engaged with it. Thus, the range of movement of the knob can be changed in multiple steps. When different selectable or controllable functions are assigned to different directions of movement of the knob, dead zones can be eliminated and the knob can be used for multiple purposes. Accordingly, a user-friendly manual input device is provided.
According to another aspect of the present invention, as a solution to the above problem, the manual input device uses a first guide plate which limits movement of the knob to eight directions and a second guide plate which limits movement of the knob to four directions.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, as a solution to the above problem, the manual input device uses a first actuator which drives the first guide plate and a second actuator which drives the second guide plate.
According to another further aspect of the present invention, as a solution to the above problem, the first guide plate has eight guide grooves extending radially in eight directions every 45 degrees and the second guide plate has guide grooves extending in four directions every 90 degrees.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, as a solution to the above problem, four guide grooves among the eight guide grooves in the first guide plate coincide with the four guide grooves in the second guide plate when the first and second guide plates are joined.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, as a solution to the above problem, the manual input device has a display unit which displays a screen matched to directions in which the knob can be moved.
When, as mentioned above, two guide plates are provided as means for limiting the directions of movement of the knob, by engaging it only with the first guide plate, the directions of movement of the knob are limited to the first range determined by the first guide plate, and by engaging it with both the first and second guide plates, they are limited to the second range determined by the combination of the guide plates. Further, by disengaging the knob from the first and second guide plates, the knob can be moved in any direction. Therefore, when the first guide plate has eight guide grooves (directions) and the second guide plates has four guide grooves (directions) which coincide with four of the eight guide grooves, if eight types of electric apparatus are respectively assigned to the eight directions in which the knob can be moved by its engagement with the first guide plate only and four different functions are respectively assigned to the four directions in which it can be moved by its engagement with both the first and second guide plates, one among the assigned eight electric apparatuses can be easily selected in electric apparatus selection by engaging it with the first guide plate and one among the four assigned functions can be easily selected in functional selection by engaging it with both the first and second guide plates. When the car navigation system is selected, the knob can be used as a means for moving the cursor on a map screen by disengaging it from the first and second guide plates. In addition, when a mark which indicates the direction of movement of the knob appears on the screen of the display unit, operating ease is increased.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, as a solution to the above problem, the manual input device has a second actuator for applying an external force to the knob and the controller controls operation of the second actuator to apply an external force to the knob depending on how the knob has been manipulated.
When, as mentioned above, the manual input device has a second actuator for applying an external force to the knob and the controller controls operation of the second actuator to apply an external force to the knob depending on the manipulation of the knob, the user can know, with a tactile sensation or without seeing the screen, how the knob has been manipulated; in other words, the user can know with a tactile sensation whether the selection or control as intended has been done by his/her manipulation of the knob, which can prevent improper manipulation of the knob.